It seems the Brown’s folks are impressed by our retro style and our budget philosophy – and who wouldn’t be? Our circa-1964 classic roadside motel is as true to its era as anything you’ll find in historic Savannah. Our rooms are clean, fresh and charming – plus they’re amenity-rich. We’ve added just enough of today to keep your yesteryear experience sharp, with things like Wi-Fi throughout the Thunderbird. Pick one of our deluxe king rooms and you’ll enjoy such features as streaming Netflix and a Wii game system. All this for a price that won’t break the budget! Plainly, it’s no accident that we’re known as Savannah’s hippest hotel.

So thanks, Brown’s Guide, for noticing what we do. Keeping the history, but dumping the stuffy part – that’s us! We’re not like everybody else. We like that about ourselves.

The Thunderbird Inn recruited more than a dozen of its closest business friends to help film “The Boulevard,” now playing below and on a YouTube screen near you.

The name comes from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, just a block or so away from our retro hotel. We planned the video to showcase the area within a couple of blocks of the boulevard – from Barnard to Boundary streets — a treasure trove of attractions new and old that often fly below visitors’ radar. Ships of the Sea Museum, SCAD Museum of Art, and the Georgia State Railroad Museum are some of the better known destinations in our new video, but we can introduce both tourists and locals to undiscovered gems.

For example, you can drop the better part of 20 bucks to lunch on famous soul food Southern cooking in downtown Savannah – and we’d be among the first to admit it’s worth every penny. But the Boulevard hosts an authentic soul food restaurant where you can fill up for a mere $5 on an equally memorable meal, seven days a week.

So check out our video. It’s a fast-paced preview of what’s in striking distance of the hippest hotel in Savannah! The collaborative video project was developed by Thunderbird Inn’s general manager, Mark Thomas, local marketing consultant Sandy Traub, and Guy Smith’s Popcorn Octane LLC digital production firm based in Hilton Head Island, SC.

General Manager Mark Thomas named to 2012 GenerationNEXT in Savannah, GA

Hats off to our own Mark Thomas, general manager of the Thunderbird Inn (that’s us!)

Mark has been named to GenerationNEXT, a group of 20 (actually, 21 this year) business leaders under age 40 recognized for their business sense and humanitarian efforts by Savannah magazine and Business in Savannah (BiS). You can read Mark’s story, and those of his fellow honorees, in the March/April edition of Savannah magazine. It notes: “Mark Thomas found his business niche in the world of ‘retro travel’ by creating a uniquely Americana-style experience at the Thunderbird Inn.”

Congratulations to a forward-looking man who saw the future of the past. The circa 1964 Thunderbird got its groove back, thanks in large part to Mark, who crafted one of America’s dwindling numbers of classic Sixties motels into a fun, relevant and affordable lodging alternative. The Thunderbird is simultaneously the hippest hotel in Savannah™ and on the National Register of Historic Places. How’s that for versatility?

SAVANNAH GA (March 19, 2012) — What if you could get the best of the present and the past in a hip hotel room you could actually afford?

Funny you should ask, because that’s exactly what you can get at the Thunderbird Inn, the hippest hotel in Savannah. Three special rooms – the deluxe king – have now been outfitted with perks that offer the best of modern entertainment, along with some retro treats that helped define “deluxe” back in the Swinging Sixties.

Let’s review the new (and new-old) treats:

• Magic Fingers! Yes, the real Magic Fingers! Time was, they were the cutting-edge amenity for circa-1960s motels. You dropped a quarter in a bedside slot, and the bed vibrated in a relaxing massage. Call it kitschy or call it kinky, it was a cultural icon. Anyway, the Thunderbird’s new Magic Fingers are better than the old version because you don’t even need a quarter to make them work.

• Vintage typewriters! Yes, texting had a grandmother, and her name was typing. To go with these venerable communication devices, the Thunderbird Inn will throw in a stamped envelope so you, too, can send snail mail.

• Wii game consoles, with games available from the front desk.

• Streaming Netflix®, where the thousands of movies and TV shows include both contemporary fare and vintage Sixties offerings, like the original “Star Trek” series.

• Radio alarm clocks equipped with iPod® docking stations, so you can go retro while keeping your ears firmly planted in the present.

The Thunderbird Inn also offers free Wi-Fi to all of its guests (sorry, we just couldn’t stomach the idea of re-creating the screech of the dial-up modems of the recent past.) But wait – there’s more! A tiny little mint isn’t cool enough for the Thunderbird Inn. When we turn down your bed at night, we put a MoonPie® on your pillow. Welcome to Southern hospitality!

Magic Finger, Wii, and Wi-Fi are only a few of the reasons to stay at The Thunderbird Inn, the hippest hotel in Savannah ™. Stay tuned, and ask us anything on Twitter @TbirdInn and Facebook.

About The Thunderbird Inn

Located in downtown Savannah, Georgia USA, the popular Thunderbird Inn is the poster child for southern retro travel in America. Offering a delicious, newly refreshed slice of Americana lodging, the classic roadside motel was originally built in 1964. It now features 42 well-designed and stylishly appointed hotel rooms, featuring new colors that blends authentic historic Savannah colors and Thunderbird’s original paint palette. In keeping with the fun hotel’s southern retro vibe, nightly a MoonPie® is on your pillow and Krispy Kreme® donuts are the highlight of an on-the-go breakfast 365/7.

Frugal is the new smart! The Thunderbird Inn also knows frugal doesn’t have to be tight and stingy. Just look at our colorful, hip rooms – they’re clean, cheerful and cheap, so you have money left over to actually DO something in Savannah. Continue reading →